Stocks fell for a third day yesterday. AU Optronics Corp (
"Computer-related shares have gained too much, too fast," said Celine Chiang (
"Investors are questioning if the rally can be sustained," she said.
Her fund has gained 11 percent in the past 12 months, compared with the index's 4.8 percent gain.
CMC Magnetics Corp (
The TAIEX shed 68.08, or 1.3 percent, to 5,219.30. The index climbed as much as 1.2 percent in intra-day trading. Seven stocks fell for every four that gained. July futures on the index lost 0.3 percent to 5,239.
About 4.5 billion shares changed hands, 9 percent above average trading in the past three months.
The value of trading was NT$94.6 billion ($2.8 billion), 10 percent above the three- month daily average.
AU Optronics lost NT$1.30, or 4 percent, to NT$30.90.
ProMOS Technologies Inc (
CMC Magnetics fell NT$1.50, or 5.7 percent, to NT$25, while rival Ritek shed NT$1.30, or 5.1 percent, to NT$24.30.
Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) fell NT$0.90, or 2.1 percent, to NT$42.70. It will announce as early as this quarter plans to invest in China, a Chinese-language newspaper reported, citing the company. Cathay will form a joint venture with an unidentified Chinese partner to sell insurance, the report said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) fell NT$1, or 1.7 percent, to NT$57 on news that the company may say third-quarter sales will grow 5 percent from the second quarter as demand recovers. It is scheduled to announce its second-quarter earnings on Thursday, the paper said.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained